February 1, 2025

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February 1, 2025 will be Round 1 of our 2025 Qualifying schedule.

This will not be a New Bots event. We are not running any New Bots events in 2025. Here's why.

New Bots started as a way to encourage builders to bring exciting new designs. But we are dealing with a registration crunch right now. In September 2024, we had almost double the number of builders register compared to the number of slots available. We need to give you all more opportunities to bring your bots to fight.

New Bots has also historically been the event with the fewest number of registrations and the most dropouts and forfeits compared to other events. This is to be expected for an event of that nature, but we had to decide whether we wanted that versus offering more chances to compete.

So in addition to running an extra Open event, changing the first event of the year from New Bots to a regular Open event will give everyone an additional chance to qualify.

We know that some of you have been excited about the possibility of running New Bots in 2025, and we hope you understand why we’re making this decision. We’re currently working on our registration process to find a way to bring the spirit of “New Bots” into each event, while still offering opportunities for competitors to build their fanbases and improve their bots.

This decision adds in one extra Open Qualifier round in Norwalk. So with the removal of new bots and the addition of the extra round, regular NHRL Open attendees will have one more chance to compete.